Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Understanding your legal rights is a powerful form of self protection, especially when navigating major life decisions related to family, finances, and personal security. Many women encounter legal situations at some point in their lives without realizing how much the law can shape the outcome of those moments. When questions arise around marriage, separation, custody, or support, speaking with a family law attorney in san mateo can help clarify what the law provides and what options are available under California family law.

Understanding Your Rights in Family Relationships

Family law governs some of the most personal and emotionally complex areas of life, including marriage, divorce, child custody, and financial support. Knowing the basic legal framework can help women make informed decisions rather than reacting under pressure or uncertainty. Even simple awareness of how rights and responsibilities are defined can prevent costly misunderstandings later on.

In California, family law is designed to balance fairness with the best interests of children and spouses. Community property rules, custody standards, and support calculations all follow specific legal guidelines. Understanding that these matters are governed by law, not assumptions or verbal agreements, is a critical first step toward protecting yourself.

Financial Rights and Responsibilities

Financial security is closely tied to legal awareness, particularly during major life transitions. Many women are unaware of how assets, debts, and income are treated during separation or divorce. Knowing how property division works can help you recognize when professional legal guidance may be necessary.

Support obligations, such as child support and spousal support, are also determined by established legal factors. These calculations consider income, time spent with children, and long-term financial needs. Being informed about these principles helps ensure that financial arrangements are both fair and enforceable.

The Importance of Legal Agreements

Legal agreements play a key role in protecting rights and setting clear expectations. Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, for example, are tools that allow couples to define financial terms in advance. When properly drafted, these agreements can reduce conflict and uncertainty if circumstances change.

Agreements related to custody, visitation, or support must meet specific legal standards to be enforceable. Informal arrangements may feel convenient but often lack protection if disputes arise. Understanding the value of legally sound agreements helps women safeguard their interests and avoid future complications.

Personal Safety and Legal Protections

The law also provides important protections related to personal safety and wellbeing. Restraining orders and protective orders exist to help individuals facing harassment, threats, or abuse. Knowing when and how these legal remedies apply can be essential in urgent situations.

Legal protections are not limited to extreme circumstances. The law also addresses issues such as parental decision making authority and the right to make choices for yourself and your children. Awareness of these protections empowers women to act confidently when boundaries are crossed.

When to Seek Legal Guidance

Many women delay seeking legal advice because they believe their situation is not serious enough. In reality, early guidance can prevent small issues from becoming major legal problems. Understanding your rights allows you to recognize when professional support can make a meaningful difference.

Family law matters often involve long term consequences that affect finances, children, and personal stability. Consulting a qualified legal professional ensures that decisions are based on accurate information rather than assumptions. Proactive legal awareness is often the strongest form of prevention.

Conclusion

Knowing your legal rights is not about preparing for conflict but about being informed and protected as life evolves. From family relationships to financial security and personal safety, the law plays a central role in many everyday situations. When women understand the legal basics and know where to turn for guidance, they are better equipped to make confident decisions that support their long term wellbeing.

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Disclaimer

Before beginning, I want to emphasize that this is not meant to serve as either a discouragement or encouragement for marriage, nor to judge marriage entirely as an institution. In the United States, marriage has made significant strides toward equality. Nevertheless, statistical evidence shows that there is still work to be done before full equality is achieved.

Historical Marriages

Marriage is one of the oldest practices in human history, with its earliest surviving record of marriage is approximately 4,375 years old, dating back to 2350 B.C. Mesopotamia. Across thousands of years and countless societies, it is impossible to fully cover the history of marriage. Because I am focusing on marriage in the United States, I will be primarily referencing marital practices in Western Europe over the past 500 years due to its direct affect on modern American marriage. 

Due to Hollywood and the patriarchal rewriting of history, when imagining historical marriages, many assume that it was between a young powerless girl and her all powerful older husband. While recognizing that marriage was used for hundreds of years to suppress women both legally and socially, the fact of the matter is that general marital practices in history weren’t what Hollywood has made them out to be.

Common Misconceptions

First of all, marriage was a private affair between two consenting individuals that involved neither the law, the church, nor parents until the mid-16th century [3]. Two individuals simply needed to agree that they were married, and then they were. Likewise, once they agreed that they were no longer married, they were no longer married. For much of history, marriage was not always the rigid, state-controlled institution that many assume it was. 

Second, during the pre-Industrial Revolution, the average age of marriage for both parties – especially amongst commoners – was typically in the mid-twenties [4]. In fact, between 1500 and 1800 in urban areas, many women didn’t marry until their thirties or even their forties [5]. In the majority of cases, marriage was, as it is now, between two adults. 

Third, the idea of the “traditional wife,” a woman who manages the children and household – basically never existed outside of the 1950s in North America. For most of history, a family was either nobility or peasants. Noble women did not raise their children and certainly did not clean up after anyone—they had servants for that work. In peasant families, every single member of the household worked. Women labored alongside men on farms, in domestic production, and later in factories, making economic dependence the exception rather than the rule.

These misconceptions are rampant but are based on a morsel of reality. Among the nobility, marriage did occur at alarmingly young ages, but these unions were based on power rather then affection. Marriages could be arranged before an individual was born and the of the marriage consummation wouldn’t happen until the late teens or early twenties. After a few children, couples would remained legally married while fulfilling emotional needs with extra martial affairs. This type of marriage applied to roughly 0.5% of the population, yet it has become the standard modern ideal of historical marriage. 

On a side note, if you want to know what people of the past would have actually thought of Game of Thrones–type marriages, look at how they reacted to Lady Margaret Beaufort [6].

Trigger warning:

The following paragraph discuss inequality, sexual assault, and abuse. If you don’t want to wish to read about those subjects, please scroll to the paragraph after. 

Disturbing Facts

Now knowing the reality of historical marriages, its time to see the realities of modern marriages. Although modern marriage has undeniably progressed in terms of legal equality compared to even fifty years ago. In the 1870s, Alabama and Massachusetts made domestic abuse illegal but it wasn’t defined nor prosecuted across all fifty states until the mid 1970s [7]. It wasn’t until l993 that material rape was recognized and made illegal in all fifty states [8]. It wasn’t until 2010 that all fifty states adopted no-fault divorce [9]. Today, under the law, women can divorce their spouses for any reason, and it is illegal for their spouses to assault or abuse them. Despite these laws, 51.1% of all perpetrators of assault committed against women are their intimate partners [10], and one in three murdered women is killed by their husbands, with 1,683 confirmed victims a year.

Modern Marriages

Unfortunately, marital inequalities do not end there. For example: the motherhood penalty. The motherhood penalty is a measurable form of employment and earnings discrimination faced by women who have children. Married women are also affected by this penalty due to the assumption that they will eventually become mothers. In contrast, men experience a “fatherhood bonus,” in which marriage and parenthood increase their earnings and employment opportunities [11].

These inequalities are also reflected in the home. Despite increasing wages and employment, women still are the primary homemakers. When a woman gets married, she will spend an extra three hours a week – 165 extra hours a year -on housework compared to her husband, who will receive three extra hours of leisure [12]. Regardless of either patterns employment status, women also spend more time on childcare [13] and provide more emotional labor in relationships and marriages via emotional comfort, regulation, guidance, and organizing and planning daily tasks [14]. These invisible hours and burdens may be lesser then in decades past, but their continuous existence within marriages remains detrimental to women’s happiness and both emotional and physical health. 

The Potential of Marriage

Marriage, in its simplest form, is a wholesome testament to love. Its history, though messy and at times problematic, reflects its sweet nature despite the misconceptions surrounding it. Today, marriage is nearly as legally equitable as it has ever been. However, by overlooking its current issues and focusing only on the fantasy we hold about historical marriages, we are prohibiting marriage from reaching true full legal, economic, and social equality.

Citations:

1. Cambridge University Architecture Department
   Dyble, Mark. Dr. Mark Dyble | Staff. University of Cambridge Department of Architecture, https://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/staff/dr-mark-dyble. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

2. Cambridge University Story Page
   “Monogamy League Table.” Cambridge University, https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/monogamy-league-table. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

3. JSTOR Book Source
   (Assuming this is a book or chapter — since the stable link is given but not the title on the URL, include as below with placeholder title if you want to refine further with author/title.)
   Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book or Chapter. Publisher, Year. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fj1mn. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

4. Archive.org — The World We Have Lost
   Clark, Peter. The World We Have Lost: England Before the Industrial Age. Penguin Books, 1994, p. 99. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/TheWorldWeHaveLost/page/n99/mode/2up. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

5. Archive.org — The Marriage History Book
   Coon, Carleton S. The Story of Human Marriage: Its Basis and Development. Harvard University Press, 1954. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/marriagehistoryh0000coon/page/n5/mode/2up. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

6. Wikipedia — Lady Margaret Beaufort
   “Lady Margaret Beaufort.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 31 Jan. 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Margaret_Beaufort. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

7. National Women’s History Alliance Timeline
   “Detailed Timeline of the Women’s Rights Movement.” National Women’s History Alliance, https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/resources/womens-rights-movement/detailed-timeline/. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

8. Psychology Today Article
   Reynolds, Emma. “Marital Rape Is Criminalized — Not Upheld.” Psychology Today, March 2022, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-games/202203/marital-rape-is-criminalized-not-upheld. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

9. CNN Article
   Hall, Louise. “No-Fault Divorce Explained: History and Wellness.” CNN, 27 Nov. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/27/us/no-fault-divorce-explained-history-wellness-cec. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

10. RAINN Statistics Page
    “Statistics: Perpetrators of Sexual Violence.” RAINN, https://rainn.org/facts-statistics-the-scope-of-the-problem/statistics-perpetrators-of-sexual-violence/. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

11. Demography Journal Article — Duke University Press
    Author Last Name, First Name, and Second Author First Last. “The Accumulation of Economic Disadvantage: The …” Demography, vol. 59, no. 4, 2022, pp. 1377–??. Duke University Press, https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/59/4/1377/315802/The-Accumulation-of-Economic-Disadvantage-The. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

12. NPR Article
    Cohen, Patricia. “Pew: Earnings, Gender Wage Gap, Housework, Chores, Child Care.” NPR, 13 Apr. 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/04/13/1168961388/pew-earnings-gender-wage-gap-housework-chores-child-care. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

13. U.S. News Health News Article
    Author Last Name, First Name. “Gender Reveals Data Shows Disparities in Child Care Roles.” U.S. News & World Report, 11 May 2023, https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-05-11/gender-reveals-data-shows-disparities-in-child-care-roles. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

14. BBC Worklife Article
    Smith, Rebecca. “The Hidden Load: How Thinking of Everything Holds Mums Back.” BBC Worklife, 18 May 2021, https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210518-the-hidden-load-how-thinking-of-everything-holds-mums-back. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

The post The Historical and Modern Realities of Marriage: Simplified appeared first on GirlSpring.

2025

That’s a year that I used to be excited for.

Now after the election,

I’m scared out of my mind.

Not just for myself,

But for the people that I’m friends with.

Black people,

Women,

Immigrants,

Gay people,

Trans people,

Poor people,

Heck, even men!

Literally everyone except the people in power,

Because this doesn’t affect them.

why?

2026

That’s the year that my brother graduates,

Then, I’ll have one less shoulder to lean on.

One less person to fight and argue with.

One less person to laugh and spend time with.

One less person that cares.

I’ll lose another person close to me.

Then there’s an empty bedroom.

Then, there’s only two kids left.

Then, another rift is created.

Then, I’ll be 16.

I’ll miss him,

But will he miss me?

2027

That’s the year that my step-brother graduates.

Then, I’ll have one less shoulder to lean on.

Just myself.

One less person to fight and argue with.

Just myself.

One less person to laugh and spend time with.

Just myself.

One less person that cares.

Just myself.

I’ll lose another person close to me.

Then there’s another empty bedroom.

Then, there’s only one kid left.

Then, another rift is created.

Then, I’ll be 17.

I’ll miss him, even though we fought,

Will he miss me?

2028

That’s the year that I graduate.

Me, the final child.

Then, there’s just my parents.

One less person to fight and argue with.

One less person to laugh and spend time with.

One less person that cares.

They’ll lose another person close to them.

Then, there’s another empty bedroom.

Then, there’s no kids left.

Then, a rift is healed.

Then, I’ll be 18,

An adult.

I’ll miss them.

I’ll miss my childhood,

Regretting wanting to grow up faster.

But I KNOW that they will miss me.

2029

That’s the year I’ll be a freshman in college.

Another election has passed.

Hopefully, it went better than the last one.

I see my family over breaks and for holidays.

There’s a new air when we meet,

A nostalgic feeling.

We have grown up,

We are still the same people,

Just more mature.

We laugh about the past.

Complain about college.

We are together again,

And long for the time to spend together again.

We will see each other again.

If you liked The Years Ahead, check out more original poems here.

The post The Years Ahead appeared first on GirlSpring.

General News:

The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/
While you’re flexing your Wordle streak, might as well flex your knowledge and read the news! It is one of the most reputable news sources in the world. The journalism is very detailed and insightful.

The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us
Like the NYT, but free! Articles are also a bit easier to read than the NYT.

NPR: https://www.npr.org/
Their articles are usually shorter than NYT or The Guardian, so they’re great if you’re busy. Their radio is also really accessible so you can listen in on your commute.

Science and Tech News:

Quanta Magazine: https://www.quantamagazine.org/
You’ll feel super smart after you read their articles because they explain the latest breakthroughs in a very accessible way.

The MIT Technology Review: https://www.technologyreview.com/
Very deep analyses of new technology and their implications. It covers pressing issues such as ChatGPT, the tech war with China, and climate innovation.

Political News:

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/
One of my favorite debate sources. Offers many perspectives on international issues and accurate, insightful articles about current events. Keeps you updated on wars, the global economy, and international relations.

Brookings Institute: https://www.brookings.edu/
More US-centered than Reuters. Focuses on policies, military strategy, trade, and the like. A bit easier to digest than Reuters in my opinion.

Fun News:

Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/
Their quizzes are great; their news is even better! It gets you up-to-date on the latest juicy scandals, shopping hacks, and influential girbosses! You can even submit stories to be featured in their articles- guess which one I wrote! 
(Hint: it’s at the bottom)

Bored Panda: https://www.boredpanda.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
It’s like Reddit with the upvote system, but without the trolls! Explore intriguing artworks, funny stories, and cute animal photos. Boredpanda is the beacon of hope when everything seems to be going wrong. Yes, they have panda pictures on there too!

Girlspring: https://www.girlspring.com/
If you want authentic, relatable stories written by girls for girls, we got it covered! If something’s missing, you can fill that gap! You can publish your writing, poems, art, photography, and even quizzes to feel like a real content creator!

What if the news is behind a paywall?

Your school, family, or local library might have a subscription. You might also be able to bypass paywalls on incognito mode, on different accounts, or after you clear out your data. If all else fails, you can subscribe to the Youtube or Tiktok accounts of the news sources.

If you can’t access or don’t like the sources I mentioned above, feel free to explore other sources! Just be careful and watch out for bias and misinformation. Maybe you’ll write for these sources or create an awesome news source of your own!

Check out my Buzzfeed contribution here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelabramwell/college-students-share-school-scandals

The post In the Know: My Favorite News Sources appeared first on GirlSpring.

O’Connor was born in 1930 and grew up on her family’s ranch in Arizona. At 16 years old, she was admitted to Stanford University and attended Stanford Law, graduating in 1952. In law school she met her husband John Jay O’Connor and shared the same classes as Chief Justice William Rehnquist. After graduation she struggled to find a job because the legal field was primarily male dominated. O’Connor initially worked as the county attorney for San Mateo County in California and later a civilian attorney with the Army Quartermaster Corps. In 1969, she was selected to fill a vacancy in the Arizona State Senate. Three years later, she became the first woman to serve as the majority leader in the state senate. 

O’Connor was elected to the Maricopa County Superior Court, and later served on the Arizona Court of Appeals from 1975 to 1979. In his 1980 campaign, President Ronald Reagan promised to appoint the first women to the Supreme Court. The opportunity presented itself in 1981, when Justice Potter Stewart retired. Sandra Day was later confirmed by the Senate in a unanimous vote, and became the first female justice. O’Connor served on the Supreme Court from 1981 to 2006. She often sided with the conservative opinion but at times sided with liberal members. During her tenure, she served as the deciding vote for many controversial cases such as Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Grutter v. Bollinger, and Bush v. Gore. O’Connor helped write the lead opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which established a woman’s right to abortion. 

In early 2006, O’Connor announced her retirement from the court following her husband’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Later that year she founded the organization iCivics to help advance civil learning. O’Connor made her mark on American politics with her contributions to American politics and pushing through boundaries as a female in the legal profession. Her legacy continues inside and outside of the court. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/01/politics/justice-sandra-day-oconnor-first-woman-on-the-supreme-court-dies/index.html 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sandra-day-oconnor-first-woman-on-the-supreme-court-dies-at-93/ 

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 It pains me to share that people of color are forgotten in the pages of history. Unfortunately, women of color are most likely underrepresented, underappreciated, and overworked. Society needs to be better at honoring the work of all citizens, especially women from minority ethnic backgrounds. Below are three Latinas in politics who deserve to be in every textbook because of their significant impact on the world.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

She went from being an unknown bartender to being the youngest congressman in the US seemingly overnight. The “democratic socialist” was born in the Bronx, one of the poorest boroughs in New York, in 1989 to Puerto Rican parents. The Nuyorican did not let her underprivilege determine her density.

Instead, from an early age, she was passionate about controlling the outcome of her life. While she was in high school, she was a part of the National Hispanic Institutes’ Lorenzo de Zavala (LDZ) Youth Legislative Session. Moreover, she participated in the 2007 Intel Science and Engineering Fair and won second place. After high school, she attended Boston University and double majored in international relations and economics.

AOC in Politics

Due to her family’s economic situation, she took waitressing and bartending jobs in her early twenties to help support her family; her father’s cancer journey and subsequent death put the family in debt. Therefore, Cortez worked hard to help pay off her family debt while paying off her student loans. Her lower-class socioeconomic background and her young age are two factors that significantly helped her become a popular choice among lower and middle-class Americans, as well as Generation Z.

Her first involvement in politics was during the 2016 presidential election because she was a volunteer organizer for Bernie Sanders, an American senator from Vermont. She became a household name two years later, on June 26, 2018, when she defeated 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley during the 2018 midterm elections. Four months later, the newcomer became the youngest-ever congresswoman.

According to AOC’s website, her first action as Democratic representative for New York’s 14th district in the Bronx was the Green Deal resolution, “which envisions a 10-year national mobilization, akin to FDR’s New Deal, that would put millions to work in good-paying, union jobs repairing the nation’s infrastructure, reducing air and water pollution, and fighting the intertwined economic, social, racial and climate crises crippling the country.” While her first legislation is impressive, the young up-and-comer didn’t stop there.

Instead, she introduced 22 more pieces of legislation, including the Loan Shark Prevention Act, which would cap credit card interest rates at 15%. In 2019, Donald Trump, a Republican, was the President, but AOC did not let Republican control of the Senate and Presidency stop her from accomplishing her goals. On the contrary, she became a nightmare for the republican party as she became an effective questionnaire in committee hearings, a consistent town hall host, and saw three amendments pass into law.

Sonia Sotomayor 

She was the first Hispanic, the first Latina, and the third woman to serve on the High Court. Just like AOC, she was also born in the Bronx neighborhood of New York to Puerto Rican parents. Another similarity to AOC is that Sonia’s father passed away while she was young, so she had to work to support her family. She knew at age ten that she wanted to be an attorney, so she studied diligently.

Her academic efforts paid off as, in 1972, Sotomayor graduated as the valedictorian of Cardinal Spellman High School. After high school, she attended the prestigious Princeton University. At the Ivy League school, Miss Sotomayor was a part of Acción Puertorriqueña, a Puerto Rican activist group. After graduating from Princeton University with a bachelor’s in history, she attended Yale Law School. Her first job in politics was as an assistant district attorney to famous Manhattan attorney Robert Morgenthau.

SS in Politics 

During her time working under Mr. Morgentau, a particular case was the Tarzan murder case. Five years after working with Morgenthau, she joined a private practice known as the New York law firm of Pavia and Harcourt. Rather than handling matters related to shoplifting, robberies, assaults, murders, and police brutality, she mainly dealt with businesses, corporations, and property rights under the private firm.

Three years later, she was appointed to serve as a district court judge. During her time in district court, she remained veiled from media attention as she mainly dealt with non-controversial cases. Six years later, she was appointed Court of Appeals Judge. According to Oyez, Sotomayor heard “more than 3,000 cases and [wrote] around 380 majority opinions.”

Upon the retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, the Barack administration quickly got Sotomayor his seat. On May 26, 2009, Hispanics across America and many working-class people from the Bronx rejoiced as their favored representative rose to the position.

Aida Álvarez

She is the first Hispanic and Latino American woman to serve in the United States Presidential cabinet. Similarly to the first two Latinas, Alvarez also hails from Puerto Rico and grew up in New York. In high school, she was a part of the ASPIRA program, a non-profit founded by Dr. Antonio Pantoja to “empower the Latino community through advocacy and the education and leadership development of its youth” (ASPIRA).

Upon graduating High School, Alvarez attended Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Arts. Her first job was being a journalist for the New York Post. She later became a successful news anchor for Channel Five. She received an Emmy Award, Front Page Award, and an Associate Press Award. Aidachanged her career path from news reporter to investment banker and succeeded in it. After a decade, in 1997, Alarez made history by becoming the first Hispanic and Latina to serve on the cabinet.

AA in Politics

Her role as an executive officer was to handle small business administration. According to Stanford University, “She presided over record activity: $61.5 billion in guaranteed loans and venture capital financing over four years.” She created social change by “trip[ling] lending to women and doub[ling] lending to minority-owned small businesses” (California Competes). Currently, Alvarez serves on the board of many major businesses, such as HP Inc., Zoosk, and Oportun Financial Corporation. Moreover, she is on the board of the Latino Community Foundation and the San Francisco Symphony.

Click here to read about how women’s voting rights are so important in politics.

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Before the Vote & Political Sheroes

Before the Vote is a ten-episode podcast video series on YouTube that covers the many ways teens can exert influence over government and politics even before they have the right to vote. On the series, I have been able to interview some pretty cool women that work in the Alabama legislative and judicial systems on how and why they got into their positions, as well as how teen voice can help them in their jobs. On other episodes, I’ve chatted with fellow teens on tangible ways we can share our voices outside of voting. 

If you’d like to check out the series (which I highly recommend you do), you can find it here. Also, if you watch a video, please consider taking the survey linked in the description box of each video. This lets me know what you think of the series! The survey is completely anonymous and takes a maximum of two minutes to fill out.

Now that I’ve given a brief overview of what Before the Vote is, I wanted to share with you some of the major highlights of the interviews and conversations that made up the series to hopefully empower you to use your voice to influence politics in today’s world.

1. We all have a part to play in our government

Oftentimes teens assume that because they don’t yet have the right to vote, they don’t have a part to play in government affairs. This is a far cry from the truth, because our country’s government is designed with the goal of representing all citizens, not just those over 18.

While there are certainly downfalls in that system today, there are still means for teens to get their voices out to ensure they are well-represented, and it’s our responsibility to utilize those resources. This is especially important for female teens, who are vastly underrepresented in today’s government.

2. Know those who represent you

The job of representatives and senators is to represent their constituents, and you are one of them! After talking with two state representatives and a state senator on the podcast, it was made clear to me that they value any and all input from the people they represent, especially young teens.

Teens have a unique perspective and an acute awareness of issues that older generations simply don’t know as much about, therefore, it’s our civic duty to ensure that we share those issues and perspectives with those that represent us. Find the contact information of your State Representative and Senator, as well as your Congressional Representative and Senators. And let them know what you’re thinking! This is definitely a means of sharing my voice that I hope to engage in more going forward.

3. Stay informed

In order to be aware of issues affecting us and our communities, we have to be tuned in to the news. I like to get my news from podcasts, but you can also educate yourself on current affairs by reading online news articles, print news sources, or even on social media, however, a major problem we face today as consumers of the media is the massive amount of misinformation and bias flying around.

It’s a good idea to fact-check information you consume and keep an eye out for potential biases in reporting. Sometimes it’s best to read about the same event from multiple sources to try and weed out the true facts of the case.

4. Use social media to your benefit

As I’m sure you already know, we have a powerful, powerful tool at our fingertips. In addition to using it to get quick updates on current events, social media can also be used to spread the word about a cause you have a passion for.

You can share educational posts that other users make, you can join an online community centered around a specific cause, or you can even create your own page dedicated to an issue you care about. Just make sure that the information you’re sharing is factual, and be sure that you’re understanding and respecting others’ differences in opinion.

5. Get plugged into local politics

Many people overlook the presence of local politics in our daily lives, but if you’re looking for a way to make a direct impact on your community, then getting involved in your local government is a great place to do so.

See if you can form a teen coalition at city council meetings, or get in touch with your mayor’s office to see if there are any opportunities for you to get involved. Even carrying out local community service projects can help further a cause you care about.

6. Explore youth in government programs

Youth in government programs are a fantastic way to get direct experience with the actual processes behind passing legislation, deciding a legal case, and creating policy. The YMCA has Youth in Government programs, including the Youth Judicial and Youth Legislature conferences, in just about every state in the US. There are also Girls State and Boys State programs across the nation.

Furthermore, most schools have a student council of some sort where students can take on a decision-making role within their school governments, which is crucial, because students are the ones mostly impacted by administrators’ decisions.

7. Learn how to have civil conversations

This is a tough skill to take on in today’s politically-polarized society; I struggle with it myself, but it’s crucial if we hope to have a future generation of problem solvers that are united by shared nationality and not divided by different parties.

When faced with a difference in opinion, we must choose to see the person behind the opinion and not just the party. We can’t villainize the other side and get defensive over our own opinion. Instead, we must try our best to listen to the reasoning behind the other person’s beliefs and use the disagreement as an opportunity to educate the other person on our beliefs. If all else fails, and no one is able to pull the other person to their side, then simply agree to disagree. Don’t let political arguments disrupt relationships—it’s just not worth it.

Reflect on everything

This was a lot of information, but don’t be overwhelmed! Those are just a few of the major themes that ran throughout the conversations I had while making the Before the Vote series.

I hope you’ll take a moment to check out an episode or two, but even more than that, realize how important your voice is toward the effectiveness of our government!

If you wish to stay updated on politics and the daily news in the area, click the link here and check out podcasts that cover politics!

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After the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina ruled that affirmative action in admissions programs was unconstitutional, a new lawsuit emerged that challenged Harvard’s preferential treatment towards children of wealthy donors and alumni.

The Supreme Court ruled that schools can no longer take race into consideration as the specific reason for accepting a candidate. 

The students attending Harvard come from predominantly white, wealthy families, and make up as much as 15% of the school’s admitted students. Lawyers for the civil rights group stated that, “This preferential treatment has nothing to do with an applicant’s merit. Instead, it is an unfair and unearned benefit that is conferred solely based on the family that the applicant is born into.”

Elimination of the Policy

The practice highly damages the chances of applicants of color getting into these prestigious schools. The lawyers for civil rights also said that 70% of the legacy applicants to Harvard are white and that legacy applicants are 6 times more likely to be admitted. 

No one is born with a school attached to their rights, yet this practice gives students a leg up into the most challenging institutions, solely because of their family history. These policies systematically disadvantage students of color, and with the court removing protections that came from affirmative action policies, it is imperative now that these policies are eliminated. 

Everyone should have an equal opportunity for a college education, click here to see how you can prep for college, wherever you end up!

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Global warming is an environmental problem that has been affecting the world for decades. Its devastating effects can be seen in various aspects of our lives, from the economy, to human health, and the environment. For the environment, global warming has caused melting glaciers, which leads to rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions.

Problems Arise

We already see effects scientists predicted, such as the loss of sea ice, melting glaciers and ice sheets, sea levels rising, and more intense heat waves. Scientists predicted global temperature increases from human-made greenhouse gas that will continue. Severe weather damage will also increase and intensify.

Furthermore, global warming leads to the release of persistent organic pollutants which pose a threat to the environment, animals, plants and human health due to their toxic nature. In addition to environmental impact, global warming also has negative implications for human health.
For example, increased temperatures can lead to heat stress and exhaustion, as well as more frequent and severe weather events like hurricanes. As a result, there is an urgent need for measures to mitigate the effects of global warming.

Economical Issues

Ultimately, global warming also affects the economy. Governments and organizations must act cautiously to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable energy sources, clean transportation methods, and implementing environmentally-friendly policies.

Global climate change is not a future problem, but changes to the Earth’s climate driven by increased human emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are already having widespread effects on the environment: glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking, river and lake ice is breaking up earlier, plant and animal geographic ranges are shifting, and plant and trees are blooming sooner.

Effects that scientists had long predicted would result from global climate change are now occurring, such as sea ice loss, accelerated sea level rise, and longer, more intense heat waves.

We are losing our animals due to the damage of plastic and the water supply being contaminated.
Hotter temperatures. As greenhouse gas concentrations rise, so does the global surface temperature.

Consequences of Global Warming

A lot of things have been happening to the world lately and we cannot figure out how this is happening. All we can do is try our best to reduce the damages that are caused by our society and reduce gas cars. We are in a climate where they are trying to get rid of gas fueled cars due to pollution in the air.

For this to change, we will have to step up and save our people, animals, our drinking water, and our environment. We’ve already see effects scientists predicted, and scientists predict global temperature increases from human-made greenhouse gases will still continue.

Plastic doesn’t degrade in environment, see how you can start small by reducing your plastic waste!

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Since the ratification of the Constitution in 1781, voting and elections have changed over time. Voting rights and representation in office have been scarce for women, people of color, and the LGBTQIAP+ community. For minority groups like these, it can be hard to have your voice heard.

The 15th Amendment has changed to include the rights of more than just straight white men. These men have never had to fight for representation in their own country, so it was important that minority groups got the representation they needed. As time went on, minority groups are more open to elections and voting than they had been before.

Representation in Congress

In 2020, at least five LGBTQ+ politicians were elected to office. Of these five, two were Black and three were women. Sarah McBride was the first transgender state senator of Delaware. This made her the highest-ranking state legislator in the country. Ritchie Torres was one of the first Black gay men in Congress, and also the first gay Afro-Latino in Congress. Now, he is one of the first Black gay men to be in the House of Representatives. It’s sad and shocking that these firsts have not come earlier in history.

On November 3rd, the number of Native American women in Congress reached a new record. The three women who broke this record are Deb Haaland, Sharice Davids, and Yvette Herrell. Haalan and Herrell are both part of the House of Representatives, and both of them represent New Mexico. They are the first state to have two Native American women as Congress delegates. Eighteen Native American women were running for spots in Congress in 2020, which is 2.6% of all women that ran that year. This was the highest percentage since 2004 and though this is still a small number, it is definitely progress.

African-American Voting

The 15th Amendment was passed in 1869 so that African-American men had the right to vote. Specifically, it says that the right to vote will not be affected by race or color. Some states still had measures to prevent them from voting, and it was only after years that these barriers were overcome. Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first African-American in Congress in late 1870. However, at the same time, Southern states revoked the 14th and 15th Amendments, which took away some rights of African-Americans. The government overcame this with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 so, African-Americans finally got voting rights.

Women in Congress

In January 2021, there was a very diverse set of Congress lawmakers. Two congresswomen were Native American, two were Muslim, and two were Black. Arizona and Tennessee had their first female senators, as well. There is finally more representation in Congress than there has been before. It is a good sign of representation for future elections. Also, if certain people are unsuccessful in running for office, others will be inspired to run. The world is looking towards a Congress with plenty of representation.

The Constitution was ratified in 1787. Voting and elections have come a long way since then. These changes are particularly important within Black, female, and LGBTQIAP+ communities. Many firsts were made recently, including the first gay Black men in Congress and the first female senators for several states. The 15th Amendment was ratified so that African-Americans could have voting rights. When it backfired, the Voting Rights Act showed a solution. The American government has had a lot more representation in voting and elections.

Click here to see why we push so hard to fight for equality! Your vote matters!

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